PadCAD Reviews

by Socbum17

Don’t waste your money if you want to save something. I drew something and saved it but went back for it and one file was empty and the other one was gone.
Asked for money back but not holding my breath.

by Clmmonkey

Seriously, I just paid $15 for PadCAD last night. I worked on a project for almost 2 hours last night, saved it, only to come back this morning to pull up my saved file - no CAD drawing.

by Pool Perfect

Please believe me when I say PadCAD needs work.
I use cad, I have for years. I could not get PadCAD to keep measurements locked nor could I get it to make exact measurements. Poorly developed, I should have read the reviews first.

by Calcumax

Tried to register and website never would load. I try and save my file, and says it is, but then next time I try and use it, it’s gone.
Please fix this or refund my money.

by Transformersfan2020

This thing is a scam. Files won't save even after you purchase the full version. Still waiting on my refund.

by Steven I. Toth

It is no longer working on iOS15.

by Hiemf

PadCAD will cost you many hours of productivity. Sometimes your work will simply not load and you cannot access what you need when you need it. Also, it is sometimes impossible to delete aspects of your drawing, I think because some lines are too small to be selected. Therefore you cannot alter, edit or even delete these small lines. If you need anything remotely detailed you will run into a lot to trouble with this. I have waisted many hours of my time trying to get this to work, because once you have invested time into a drawing and time learning how to use this, you don't want to simply find a new app and start all over. If I were you, I wouldn't even give this a try. Find something else!

by GreekGeek1157

App is not small learning curve as stated. There are instructions, but you have to leave PadCAD , go to the instructions on website, come back to your drawing, leave PadCAD , go to instructions, come back to your drawing, leave PadCAD , go back to instructions, back and forth. Requested written instructions but denied. Those instructions on the website must have magically appeared there then. There must be files that were uploaded to the site which could easily be transformed to a PDF and offered upon request but all I got was a "No, Sorry"

by DesignTech Professional

It's a low-end product, not something a pro could make extensive use of. I was reviewing this for my firm as a possibility to replace traditional pen & paper field measuring. Criticisims should be viewed through that lens.

There's a few key flaws that keep it from being useful for professionals.
1) Walls will grow in length on both ends as you adjust wall width. So your 5'-7" wall with a 4" thickness is 4" longer than it should be. Have a 12" wall (common in commercial) and you're a full foot beyond your measured distance. Unacceptable.

2) Zoom level makes it impossible to do smaller corners than a foot

3) Export of .dxf is imperfect. You discover a lot of artifacts and errors when importing this into a software to do actual documents, meaning you would have been better off drawing from scratch.

4) Dims only snap to center of walls. For applications where finish dimensions are critical this doesn't work.

5) Units don't go smaller than 1/2" increments. Same issue as above.

It's a nice software for the amatuer or smaller projects, but if you're looking for an iPad site survey solution, look elsewhere.

by Dano 8080

I have the full version and any wall smaller than 3' in length can not be moved or deleted. If you need to edit or move that wall you must start the drawing all over again, waisting hours of work, fix that and it would be a 4 star app.

by Theduck1985

Nice overall. Negative for me is the limit of windows, accessories available when designing. You custom make, time costuming. Instructions are helpful. Pretty easy to understand once you play with it awhile. Export feature works well and PDF functions is helpful.

Would like
- to see the screen flip, can't take picture with iPad cover as easy as one would hope.
- import picture and draw on top for quick measurements
- no fireplace and/or would like more options for rooms. Too basic.
-locking option to move a complete design to center of page
- color change for wall thickness
-2d or 3d add on with the ability to import from PadCAD to new one

Overall a good app, not work the price tag, recommend to classroom to look elsewhere until some sort of additional options are created. Next class starts October?

by Srake26

This program is simple to use, easy to learn and get the job done. The native elements make it quick and easy to add detail to a drawing, and the attributes editor makes precision drawings easy. However, this program has its limitation. 1) the drawing space is limited. If you need to draw a larger floor plan than the yellow box, tough luck. 2) you cannot select multiple elements, therefore you cannot edit more than one thing at a time, making moving or rotating objects very slow, especially if you need to move your plan over to avoid getting it clipped by the drawing space (see point one). 3) you only have to option of 3 different scales, none custom. And you cannot specify the export resolution or color scheme.
If you don't mind a small blue screen, and have plenty of time to edit one line at a time, then this can be a great tool for simple floor plans. But the price is a little steep for what you get.

by C-it-Done

Though I think this is a awesome app, it again waisted all my hard work today. I have been working on a dream of mine and had to create it twice the first time around. the first time it was not in the load menu though the name plate was still there. The drawing was mis-arranged several times and then one day gone. I learned to export to my E-Mail and now have a copy of it but if I needed to make any changes to it ,I would have to do it all over again. I put in about 72 hours and now they are all gone. I paid money to be able to save to my iPad now this needs to be fixed or don't even download this it's a waist of time and money.

by FootballIsKing

PadCAD works just as it should. Only 2 problems I have with it stems from the ease of drawing lines and walls, and the furniture selection. Just too time consuming to draw something that takes 30 seconds on the computer. Also, you are not able to draw straight lines for countertops or desks just have to make extra thick walls. The furniture templates should be able to be sized and there should be a lot more options with having to import them.

by JeffMASF

This is a fantastic application that is simple yet elegant. I really don't understand the complaints of several reviewers. There is a small up front learning curve (mostly with exporting files) and the people who complain about exporting issues clearly didn't read the support link. I essentially mastered the software in 15 minutes and have done several dozen drawings for the house I am renovating.

The software has a few bugs (custom settings don't seem to save after PadCAD closes- you can choose paper size and color and units and they always reset back to their defaults). -Not a big deal but a minor item that is consistent.

A major suggestion would be to increase the paper size of your documents. What I mean by this is that you can theoretically create any size blue print... However there's an output/ export limit. I have a very narrow and long building and cannot export a .pdf or .jpeg of my building all at once. Not sure why a predetermined limitation exists for exporting your work but there is... That's my only real complaint.

I also would love to see the software have more furniture options.

Overall the software is simple... But that's the beauty of the software... Never had PadCAD crash or lose my data and it's very accurate and easy to use the software.

Highly recommend the software!

by Louisa_A

I purchased PadCAD when I needed to remodel my kitchen. Mind you, I'm no architect but with a few pointers from my architect brother I got the hang of it in no time. At one point I had to pry it away from his hands. I love the fact that it had just the things I needed to figure out my kitchen. I wish it could show me some color options but for the price, I'll just use Photoshop once I'm done. I was really worried I'd be overwhelmed - I'm not technical at all!! - but I can tell they really thought about what things to include. Having easy to follow instructions really helped too.

by General Bullfrog

I'm a General Contractor in Florida have used other programs but I have to say this the easiest app to do a simple floor plan. I read all the instructions and played with a it a little, got the hang of it and was drawing in no time.I redesign kitchen to see how it would look and was awesome. Now I'm going to do a draw up of a house and draw an addition to the rear to show a customer with measurements,furniture, electrical etc. to see or move a wall till There satisfied and add my own symbols. Can't
Beat it and especially for the price. Two thumbs up

by Vluximus

It takes a drawing or two to get used to, but after that is fairly easy to use. I have had a minor bug here or there but nothing to be upset or complain about. I have had this app from the first version, and there were a couple major bugs that I brought to the creators attention, they communicated promptly, worked with me, and I was quite impressed with how fast it was fixed. I have not been asked to pay again, as others are saying, not sure what that's about. I think it's worth the money, think of what else you spend $15 on. It's nice to sit on the couch and work on stuff too.

by Giggles Jimmy

This a great app that is simple and easy to use. The instructions are helpful but after a few minutes of using PadCAD you will find that using it is really self explanatory. The developer is also incredibly helpful if you have issues and prompt to respond and correct the problem. Even if you are just doing small projects PadCAD is worth the money to help you plan!!

by Lehivalley

I've had this program for about a week and has a very easy learning curve. I wanted a simple program for designing custom floor plans. The walls can be adjusted, in any direction by 1/2" - you cannot ask for anything better. Windows and doors can be added to any wall. I like the fact that the windows can be adjusted to any length and the doors can be rotated to fit any wall or flipped to add a double door entry. It has all the tools you would expect for a program of this price. So far, I have designed a first and second floor (4500sq ft per floor) with Living Room furniture, Kitchen counters and appliances, Bedroom furniture, Bathroom sinks, showers, bathtubs, and toilets, Outdoor Patio's with various size plants and multiple stairs to the second floor. One last thing, you will love the 360 degree rotation tool as well as the multi-adjustment tool you get when you double click on walls and other features. I have yet to have a single problem with any of the many tools this program has to offer. This program exceeds all my expectations for what I paid for it.

by Beatboxnic

This program is simple to use, easy to learn and get the job done. The native elements make it quick and easy to add detail to a drawing, and the attributes editor makes precision drawings easy. However, this program has its limitation. 1) the drawing space is limited. If you need to draw a larger floor plan than the yellow box, tough luck. 2) you cannot select multiple elements, therefore you cannot edit more than one thing at a time, making moving or rotating objects very slow, especially if you need to move your plan over to avoid getting it clipped by the drawing space (see point one). 3) you only have to option of 3 different scales, none custom. And you cannot specify the export resolution or color scheme.
If you don't mind a small blue screen, and have plenty of time to edit one line at a time, then this can be a great tool for simple floor plans. But the price is a little steep for what you get.